*This title will be released on May 10, 2011*

Title: Something Secret This Way Comes Author: Sierra Dean Series: Secret McQueen #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Urban Fantasy Excerpt: Yes Source: Author Reviewed by: Julia Format: Kindle eBook Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. , May 10, 2011 ASIN: B004QQ3MGI Sexual Content: Several sex scenes. Rating: Good - A fun read with minor flaws. Maybe read an excerpt before buying.

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Description

Some secrets are dangerous. This Secret is deadly.

 

For Secret McQueen, her life feels like the punch line for a terrible joke. Abandoned at birth by her werewolf mother, hired as a teen by the vampire council of New York City to kill rogues, Secret is a part of both worlds, but belongs to neither. At twenty-two, she has carved out as close to a normal life as a bounty hunter can.

When an enemy from her past returns with her death on his mind, she is forced to call on every ounce of her mixed heritage to save herself-and everyone else in the city she calls home. As if the fate of the world wasn't enough to deal with, there's Lucas Rain, King of the East Coast werewolves, who seems to believe he and Secret are fated to be together. Too bad Secret also feels a connection with Desmond, Lucas's second-in-command...

 

Warning: This book contains a sarcastic, kick-ass bounty hunter; a metaphysical love triangle with two sexy werewolves; a demanding vampire council; and a spicy seasoning of sex and violence.

Review

SOMETHING SECRET THIS WAY COMES reminded me a lot of the fantasy books I read during high school.   Not in content, but emotion.  In a genre that abounds with vampires and werewolves, Dean managed to add twists to the mythology and social structure of her characters that made me feel like she was treading new ground. While SOMETHING SECRET does draw on many Urban Fantasy clichés, Dean adds enough of a new spin to make me interested in seeing where the series is going.

One of Dean’s best departures from the Urban Fantasy cannon was giving both vampires and werewolves a strong respect for life and an almost National Parks service approach to managing their numbers and offspring.  There were several instances where this attitude is pivotal to the plot (and being a vampire hunter is a new and different beast altogether when the vampires issue warrants themselves).  Dean also made some clever assumptions regarding the personality quirks that would be common in an immortal or were population, and I enjoyed these glimpses of supernatural society.

While the preternatural anthropology was interesting, the writing in SOMETHING SECRET did have a few first novel downfalls.  The first several chapters had heavy handed explanations and data dumps to establish the world, and the name “Secret McQueen” never stopped feeling awkward.  These shortcomings were never enough to stop my forward progress, however, and I have high hopes that book 2, A BLOODY GOOD SECRET, will contain more of the creativity that sparked my interest with less of the writing bumps.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	Chas at LovLivLife Reviews Kelly at Reading the Paranormal

Thank you all for commenting on the Review & Giveaway: Abandon by Meg Cabot & to Point (via Big Honcho Media) for providing a copy of ABANDON and a bracelet featuring a quote from the book!

There were 81 entrants. The winner (chosen by Random.org) is…

Erinberry

I'd love to read this, and those bracelets look really cool. Thanks for the giveaway!

Congratulations! I’ll be emailing you soon.  Please respond with your address within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

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Title: City of Fallen Angels Author: Cassandra Clare Series: The Mortal Instruments #4 Cover Art: Cliff Nielsen Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Paperback: 432 pages Publisher: Walker & Company ISBN-10: 9781406328677 ISBN-13: 978-1406328677 Sexual Content: Kissing. References to homosexuality. Rating: Okay – A few good points, but with significant flaws. Library/swap/borrow if you want.

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Description

The Mortal War is over, and Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most important of all—Clary can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side—along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls—neither of whom knows about the other.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

Review

(This review contains spoilers from the previous books)

I’ve read all the previous books in The Mortal Instruments series, and after finishing CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS, the overwhelming thought I had when I closed the book was: she should have stopped at book 3.  The The impossible love between Clary and Jace has been the driving force of the first three books.  And honestly the incestuous obstacle to their romance has always been a real hindrance to my enjoyment of the series overall.  I knew eventually it would be revealed that somehow they weren’t actually related, and I had to cling fiercely to that thought every time they started making out thinking they were brother and sister, but it was big on the ick scale even still and I think that particular storyline was drawn out much too long.  But after such a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to their love no longer exists, what could possibly trump incest in CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS? 

The answer, unfortunately, is nothing.

But Clary and Jace still act like their love is impossible.  Jace brings new meaning to the word brooding.  His objections to being with Clary felt very thin to me and her response was overly melodramatic.  I haven’t been able to loose myself in this series really since the first book, but I felt especially detached from this one.  It didn’t help that half the book was devoted to Simon’s perspective and his ongoing struggle to come to grips with his new life as a vampire.  He’s never been a strong enough character to hang a book on in my opinion, and he proves that in CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS.

Bottom-line, the Jace/Clary parts of the book were unsuccessfully trying to recreate the romantic tension they had in the previous books, and the Simon parts just weren’t interesting enough to warrant the page time he got.  Yes, there is a plot involving demons and murdered Shadowhunters, but with all the characters faux drama, it fell flat me. Diehard fans of the series will no doubt love this latest installment, but if you’ve been lukewarm like me, you might want to pass and try Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices prequel series instead.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
City of Bones City of Ashes City of Glass	Wondrous Reads /- LA FEMME READERS -/ Love Vampires

Thank you all for entering this giveaway and to NAL for providing two copies of HARD BITTEN by Chloe Neill.

There were 84 entrants. The winners (chosen by Random.org) are …

dani nguyen

Can't wait to read this! Thanks for the giveaway!

The Ninja Geek

Giveaway! :)

Congratulations! I’ll be emailing you soon.  Please respond with your address within 48 hours or a new winner will be drawn.

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*This title will be released on May 10, 2011*

Title: Tempest Rising Author: Tracy Deebs Series: Tempest Trilogy #1 Cover Art: N/A Genre: Paranormal YA Excerpt: Yes Source: Publisher Reviewed by: Abigail Reading level: Young Adult Hardcover: 352 pages Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (May 10, 2011) ISBN-10: 0802722318 ISBN-13: 978-0802722317 Sexual Content: Kissing Rating: Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & put this author on your watch list.

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Description

A contemporary paranormal romance out just in time to ride the wave of the newest creature craze: mermaids!

Tempest Maguire wants nothing more than to surf the killer waves near her California home; continue her steady relationship with her boyfriend, Mark; and take care of her brothers and surfer dad. But Tempest is half mermaid, and as her seventeenth birthday approaches, she will have to decide whether to remain on land or give herself to the ocean like her mother. The pull of the water becomes as insistent as her attraction to Kai, a gorgeous surfer whose uncanny abilities hint at an otherworldly identity as well. And when Tempest does finally give in to the water's temptation and enters a fantastical underwater world, she finds that a larger destiny awaits her—and that the entire ocean's future hangs in the balance.

Review

Nine months out of the year, I ravenously devour books full of vampires, werewolves, and fae.  Without fail, the moment the weather begins to warm up, I start looking for a very specific type of supernatural story.  One starring creatures that embody summer, sand, and surf: mermaids.  Last year it was FORGIVE MY FINS by Tera Lynn Childs, and this year it’s TEMPEST RISING by Tracy Deebs.

Tempest Maguire was a refreshing YA protagonist from page one.  She displayed a maturity that her contemporaries often seem to miss.  She has grown up knowing that on her seventeenth birthday she’ll have to choose between the life she’s always known on land and embracing a life under the sea as a mermaid.  Her mother wasn’t able to stay away from the sea and ended up returning and abandoning her husband and three kids.  Tempest’s anguishes over the decision, but not for typical teenage reasons.  She has no desire to follow in her mothers footsteps and abandon her father and two younger brothers, but she’s afraid that she won’t have a say in the matter since she already can feel her body changing. She doesn’t ask herself questions like ‘What will I miss out on if…?’ instead she worries about how her family would cope without her.  In fact on the one occasion she started to drift towards a ‘poor me’ thought, she immediately squelched it and never looked back.  I was sold from that moment on.

Unlike other recent mermaid books, TEMPEST RISING goes that extra mile and delivers an actual villain.  So often mermaid books, especially in YA, deal only with the conflict of choosing between land and sea.   Tempest has to fight a seriously nasty sea witch and a mythological monster in an eons long underwater war.  Blood is shed on both sides.  Not for the faint of heart.  Add to that a family mystery and a love triangle that completely caught me by surprise—in a good way, and the result is exactly what I was hoping for: a book that let’s me experience for a few hundred pages the magic of being a mermaid.

If you enjoyed books like AQUAMARINE by Alice Hoffman, FORGIVE MY FINS by Tera Lynn Childs, or if you love Splash or The Little Mermaid movie, you will have a blast reading TEMPEST RISING.  It’s the perfect book to sink into over the summer.  Romance and adventure abound in this mermaid tale that’s a fin above the rest.  A selfless protagonist who actually thinks before she acts.  So refreshing.  And while the ending of TEMPEST RISING does have a completely satisfying conclusion, according to her website (Tracy Deebs is the YA pen name of romance author Tracey Wolff), this is the first book in a planned trilogy. I’m already looking forward to taking another dip with these characters.

Previous Books in Series	Also Reviewed By:
N/A	Reading, Writing and Waiting One Book At A Time Killin' Time Reading